#thank you anon <3 havoise bertha and hawiz are so fun <3

[ardenrosegarden]

Hi! I'm not familiar with high medieval history but seeing your posts have made me super interested in certain historical figures of 11th century Brittany (specifically Hawise of Normandy, Bertha of Blois and Hawise of Rennes!!! Icons, all three of them)

It's really difficult to find information on their personal lives tho, so I wanted to ask: What kind of marriages did Geoffrey of Rennes & Hawise of Normandy and Hawise of Rennes & Hoel II have? I know that Bertha and Alan's seems to have been very loving, but I can't figure our anything for the other two.

Maybe I'm searching in the wrong places, so if there are any specific books that elaborate on them, please recommend! Thanks :)

Hello!

Thanks so much <3 and I agree! Those three lived in a really interesting period and their lives add really interesting context that I think makes them compelling to learn about :)

Unfortunately, historical evidence surrounding 11th century Brittany has a lot of gaps and omitted/lost information that makes it hard to tell for sure what certain relationships would have looked like and a lot of it has to be reconstructed with best guesses with the limited information we have.

I can only speak for what I've read, so if anyone has more resources or info they'd like to share feel free!

Regarding Hawise of Normandy and Geoffrey I, we don't really know a whole lot about their relationship as they were married in 996 and Geoffrey died in 1008 on pilgrimage to Rome. Joëlle Quaghebeur brings up an interesting angle regarding the double marriage of Hawise and Geoffrey and Richard II to Judith of Rennes as having marked differences in culture between the Bretons and Normans that affected how the two regions viewed the alliance, and my speculation is that it probably wouldn't be surprising if it bled into how the respective brides and grooms also viewed/interacted with each other. We're given a pretty rosy image of their marriage: "This was the maiden, very beautiful in body and agreeable in morals and honesty: and why, after the paction of their friendships, Geoffrey asked that she be given to him, at Richard's will which Richard granted himself with agreeable courage and by assent of the Norman Princes gives her to him as a wife in the Christian manner." One of the difficult things about trying to figure even the events of the marriage though is that a lot of the finer details of it mostly come from Guillaume de Jumièges- a Norman chronicler- so we're left with a mainly one-sided narrative that is predisposed to the opinion that Normandy has suzerainty over Brittany which also needs to be taken into account when trying to parse things out. That being said, the marriage did do what it was intended to do: during Hawise's lifetime, Normandy and Brittany were bound in much closer defensive alliance against Anjou, so in that regard it's hard to consider it an unsuccessful one. Some more resources on Hawise of Normandy: Amy Livingstone, Pious Women in a “Den of Scorpions” The Piety and Patronage of the Eleventh-Century Countesses of Brittany Joëlle Quaghebeur, Havoise, Constance, et Mathilde, princesses de Normandie et duchesses de Bretagne Pierre Le Baud, Histoire de Bretagne, avec les Chroniques des maisons de Vitré et de Laval

Historical consensus on Hoël II and Hawise seems to be a lot more straightforwardly confident on calling it a genuinely affectionate marriage. Laurence Moal specifically mentions their marriage in her section on marriage dynamics within the ducal family as one offering the image of "perfect harmony". Hawise of Rennes was not as politically prominent as Hawise of Normandy was, so unfortunately we don't have much information on her specifically, but what we do have points to Hoël and Hawise having the typical experience of their time/status/region of marrying in their late teens or twenties and having a pretty good partnership. I can't find hard dates for when Hoël and Hawise were born or when they were affianced, but it's likely that they married relatively young and there being no mention of Hoël having a concubine or illegitimate children, and he seems to have shown no inclination to take a mistress or remarry after Hawise's death. There is also the fact that Hoël seemed to have been deeply shaken by Hawise's death and the purpose of praying for her soul may have been one of the main factors motivating his decision to go on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1072. More on Hawise and Hoël/Hoël's family: Laurence Moal, Duchesses Histoire d'un pouvoir au féminin en Bretagne Jean-Christophe Cassard, Houel, Huuel, Compte de Cornouaille puis duc de Bretagne (circa 1030-1084) André-Yves Bourgès, Propagande Ducale, Rèforme Grégorienne et Renouveau Monastique Joëlle Quaghebeur, La Cornouaille du IXe au XIIe siècle Mémoire, pouvoirs, noblesse Joëlle Quaghebeur, Judith de Nantes, très pieuse, très noble, très sage comtesse de Cornouaille If you're inclined to historical fiction, Hoël and Hawise also feature as side characters in The Wolf Hunt by Gillian Bradshaw

It's possible there may be sources I've missed, or new ones may come out later, so if you're still looking for things I recommend looking through the works cited of some of the above materials or seeing if someone else cited them. I apologize for the vagueness that is the middle ages, but I hope this was somewhat helpful!